Fig. 6

ASM deficiency impairs the ability of skeletal muscle to recover from injury in vivo. a Apparatus for muscle injury and isometric torque measurements. The thigh of an anesthetized mouse is stabilized and the leg attached to a motor-driven arm. To assess quadriceps maximal isometric torque, the femoral nerve is stimulated with transcutaneous electrodes, resulting in knee extension (see blue arrow). To induce injury, the lever arm is forced down into flexion while the quadriceps muscle is fully contracted. Image modified from [32], used with permission. b Average body weight of WT and ASM^−/− littermate mice. No significant differences in body mass were observed between WT and ASM^−/− mice. c QF absolute strength, as measured by maximal isometric torque before injury. No significant differences were observed between WT and ASM^−/− littermate mice. d Percent loss of maximal isometric torque in QF muscle immediately after (0 min) or 2 min after a high-force lengthening contraction injury in WT or ASM^−/− littermate mice. ASM^−/− mice showed a significantly higher loss of maximal isometric torque at 2-min post-injury when compared to WT (*p = 0.0023). All data represent the mean ± SD of seven mice in each group